Black Isle all set for BIG day!
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THE stage has been set for a showcase for all that's good about the Black Isle tomorrow - and visitors from well beyond the bounds of the peninsula are being invited to join the fun!
The fourth biennial Black Isle Gathering (BIG), will take place on Saturday, September 24 between 11am and 4pm at Fortrose Academy.
For the first time, it will fill the entire ground floor of the Black Isle secondary school, with stalls stretching right the way from the old front door near the canteen through the school and into the community theatre and library areas.
This free, fun, community fair for all brings clubs, societies, small businesses, churches and community groups together under one roof.
This year, it has a special focus on the needs of older Black Isle residents.
The Community Theatre ‘Grand Day Out’ area will be crammed with stalls offering a morning and afternoon programme of advice, demonstrations and activities from organisations based in the Black Isle and beyond. That element of BIG is being funded by Highland Council’s Black Isle Ward discretionary fund and LEADER.
Elsewhere, entertainments for all ages will include a demonstration from Avoch Sea Scouts, Nick Martin’s colourful collection of rescued reptiles, plus music, dance, crafts and sports activities, and home-cooked food from Caroline Macleman’s Avoch-based Buffets4U.
Mary Bowers, the BIG team volunteer who masterminds how to fit over 50 stallholders and displays under one roof, said ahead of the event, “It always makes me tear my hair out, but I get there!
"It’s good to see so many new stallholders booked for 2011, and there’s a notable increase in locally-made arts and crafts for people to buy. The best thing of all about BIG is that unlike so many community fair events which have been dismally wet this summer, it is dry, warm and under cover.
"It’s a huge task to set things up on our part - not to mention a heroic effort from the school janitor team - but when the doors open and people pour in and start to blether, it makes it all worthwhile!”
